Research suggests (for examples, see below) that traumatic memories are not stored in the normal way (this theory was initially proposed by the psychologist and philosopher Pierre Janet) but non-linguistically as feelings / emotions and sensations (e.g. images, sounds, smells). This means that they cannot be properly articulated nor integrated into the individual’s personal narrative (story) in a meaningful way. This is why people frequently find trauma extremely difficult to talk about.

Also, traumatic memories are stored in a fragmentary way (as opposed to in a way that allows them to form a coherent whole) and remain unmodified over time.

Another feature of traumatic memories, according to Pierre Janet, is that they frequently cannot be remembered at will but are state-dependent (i.e. can only be recalled – in the form of flashbacks, for example – when the individual is in a similar state of consciousness to the one s/he was experiencing at the time of the trauma).

So, as we can see from the above, traumatic memories are not processed in the normal way and it is this lack of normal information processing that lies at the core of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One main theory related to this is that they (i.e. the traumatic memories) are prevented from being properly processed by the EXTREME LEVEL OF AROUSAL the individual feels whilst experiencing the trauma.

Supporting Evidence :

Research (Kolk and Ducey) into flashbacks (a central feature ofPTSD) using neuroimaging has revealed that, when these flashbacks occur :

there is increased activity in areas of the right hemisphere which are involved with emotional processing

there is increased activity in the right visual cortex

These two findings support the theory that traumatic memories (in this case, flashbacks) are processed / stored in the form of emotions and sensations (in the case of the above research visual sensations).

Furthermore, Rauch et al (1995) conducted research showing that individuals experiencing flashbacks simultaneously experienced a decrease in activity in the part of the brain, located in the left hemisphere, called Broca’s area (a brain region involved with language) ; this finding supports the theory that traumatic memories are not stored in linguistic form.

Implications For Therapy :

The above supports the notion that effective therapy for PTSD should involve the individual afflicted by it being helped by the therapist to properly process traumatic memories so that they may be safely integrated into the person’s personal narrative.

I have frequently referred to the concepts of DISSOCIATION and REPRESSION on this site as, of course, both are highly relevant to the subject of childhood trauma. But what is the difference between the two?

REPRESSION :

In terms of psychoanalytic theory (of which Sigmund Freud is considered to be the ‘father’) REPRESSION can be divided into two types :

PRIMAL REPRESSION

REPRESSION PROPER

I briefly explain these two types of repression below :

REPRESSION PROPER :

This refers to an unconscious process whereby the part of the mind that Freud referred to as the ego prevents distressing and threatening thoughts from ever permeating consciousness. Freud believed that often such thoughts were kept banished from conscious awareness as otherwise they would produce intolerable guilt (generated by the part of the mind that he referred to as the superego).

Examples of types of thoughts that Freud believed are kept repressed by this process are those concerning certain types of sexual and aggressive impulses and instincts (generated by the part of the mind Freud referred to as the id) that we have learned from our environment (influence of culture, parents etc) are unacceptable.

PRIMAL REPRESSION :

The term primal repression refers to an unconscious process whereby the ego buries distressing and threatening thoughts, feelings and memories down below the level of consciousness into the id.

So, to summarize : in the case of repression proper, distressing and threatening thoughts are prevented from evergaining access to conscious awareness whereas, in the case of primal repression, distressing and threatening thoughts, feelings and memories which have gained ephemeral access to consciousness are banished from it (buried in the id).

However, Freud also pointed out that there is a high price to pay for the unconscious process of repression in so far as this hidden, buried information that has been forced down into the id will create symptoms of anxiety.

DISSOCIATION :

In the case of dissociation (one of the core features of complex PTSD), thoughts / feelings / memories do NOT get pushed down into / buried in the id ; instead, they become separated / compartmentalized in a different part of the ego.

So, we can finally summarize in this way :

In the case of repression, mental information / content is split off into the id.

In the case of dissociation, mental information / content is split off into a separate part of the ego.

NB : This distinction relates to how the terms are used in psychoanalytic theory ; in other areas of psychology, the term ‘dissociation’ can take on other meanings (as the articles listed below will show).

To learn more about dissociation, you may like to read some of my other articles (listed below) :

The renowned UK psychologist, Oliver James, argues both eloquently and convincingly in his most enlightening book : ‘Not In Your Genes’, that the extremely serious and distressing psychiatric disorder, schizophrenia , is almost entirely the result of environmental factors, and far less related to genetic influences than has previously believed. In making this argument, he also alerts us to the incipient theory that so-called psychotic ‘hallucinations‘ may, in fact, frequently actually be intrusive, TRAUMA-BASED MEMORIES.

In fact, this theory is far from new ; over eighty years ago, in 1936, Sigmund Freud proposed that hallucinations were caused by repressed memories of trauma erupting out of the unconscious mind and into consciousness.

RESEARCH SUGGESTING LINK BETWEEN HALLUCINATIONS AND MEMORIES :

But there exists, too, much more recent research into the putative connection between hallucinations (both of the auditory kind – sometimes referred to as ‘hearing voices’ and of the visual kind – sometimes referred to as ‘visions’). For example, Read and Argyle (1999) conducted a study involving one hundred psychotic patients and found that, amongst the content of hallucinations that these patients reported, fully half of this material consisted of fragments of memories relating to trauma that they had suffered during their childhoods.

Furthermore, Morrison et al (2002) conducted a study involving 35 psychotic individuals and found that very nearly half (17 out of the 35) reported having visual hallucinations, the content of which was associated with actual events which had taken place earlier during their lives.

Additionally, McCarthy-Jones et al (2014) conducted research into 199 patients who ‘heard voices’ (i,.e. experienced auditory hallucinations) and found that 12% of these individuals reported that these ‘voices’ exactly replicated actual conversations they had had in their earlier lives ; a further 31% reported ‘hearing voices’ that approximated actual conversations they had had in their earlier lives.

MORE RESEARCH NEEDED :

However, no firm conclusions may yet be drawn regarding the possible link between the content of hallucinations and trauma-based memories. One of the reasons for this is that most of the research that has been conducted in relation to intrusive, trauma-related memories (as occurs in PTSD and complex-PTSD) has focused upon VISUAL MEMORIES, whilst, on the other hand, most of the research that has so far be conducted into the hallucinations of psychotic patients has focused upon the AUDITORY SENSE. In order for more light to be shed on this topic, this dichotomy of research focus needs to be addressed.

Anger displayed by traumatized children differs markedly from anger displayed by non-traumatized children. The anger exhibited by such traumatized children (in comparison with how anger tends to be exhibited by non-traumatized children):

is more extreme and intense

comes on more suddenly

is more difficult for carers of the child to calm

is more out of control

has a more ‘primal’ / visceral quality to it

can give rise to more obvious physiological changes (such as dilation of the pupils and tension of the facial muscles)

Why Does Such Extreme Anger Occur In Developmentally Traumatized Children?

Reasons for such extreme anger responses may occur because :

it is instinctive and hard-wired into the brain as a DEFENSE MECHANISM / SURVIVAL MECHANISM

the child has fantasies of revenge against the parents / primary carers

Anger Result Of Underlying Fear And Need For Self-Protection :

The intense anger that traumatized children show is due to both conscious and unconscious fear. This fear does not only relate to perceived danger of being physically hurt, but also of being emotionally hurt ; the latter is frequently linked to fear of rejection or of being over-powered and controlled.

The Pre-emptive Nature Of Intense Outbursts Of Rage :

To those who do not understand the child, his/her explosive outbursts of rage often seem very disproportionate to the precipitating event. However, there are actually logical reasons (even though the untutored observer may view the child’s behavior as ‘irrational’ and ‘illogical’) for the way in which the child reacts and the reasons are these : based both on the child’s conscious and unconscious memories of how s/he has been physically and/or emotionally endangered in the past, s/he is constantly on the alert for signs that further danger may be imminent.

Subtle Indications Of Imminent Danger :

This self-protective state of alert works on a ‘better safe than sorry’ basis which means the child is likely to react angrily / aggressively (and, I stress again, the anger / aggression functions as a defense, summed up by the maxim, ‘attack is the best form of defense’) to even very subtle signs that this danger may exist (such asslight changes in facial expressions or intonation which may be barely detectable to others.

A Desperate Need To Feel In Control :

As already alluded to above, the traumatized child’s proneness to extreme anger may frequently stem from a desperate need to be in control. This acute need is likely to relate to the child’s past experience of his/her parents / primary carers having abused their control and power over him/her in the past, resulting in physical or psychological injury to him/her. Therefore, the child is terrified (on an either conscious or unconscious level) that not being in control will make him/her vulnerable to being harmed yet further.

The Need For Empathy :

Rather than being punished, children who have problems controlling their intense feelings of anger need their parents / primary carers to understand and empathize with the underlying reasons for the behavior and, based upon this understanding and empathy, to respond compassionately rather than judgmentally. Children who have been traumatized very frequently (and irrationally) blame themselves and are wracked with feelings of self-hatred. Their anger is a symptom of their trauma and being punished for it is likely to perpetuate their feelings of worthlessness and psychologically damage them further.

REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER :

REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER may occur when a child is severely neglected where the neglect involves being deprived of close, consistent, stable care and nurturing from those who would normally provide it (i.e. a parent or primary caregiver). For example, a child who is raised in an orphanage in which the child has no sole, main carer, but, instead, a variety of overworked carers who work in shifts would be at increased risk of developing the disorder.

There are two types of REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER ; these are :

INHIBITED REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER

DISINHIBITED REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER

Let’s look at each of these in turn :

THE TWO TYPES OF REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER : INHIBITED AND DISINHIBITED :

INHIBITED REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER :

A child suffering from inhibited reactive attachment disorder may commonly suffer a range of symptoms which include :

a preference for solitary play / no interest in games that involve interaction with others

avoidance of / detachment from others (including an avoidance of any physical contact with others)

avoidance of eye contact

appears sad and lethargic

lack of any positive response to attempts by others to give comfort / does not seek comfort from others

does not smile

failure to reach out when picked up

DISINHIBITED REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER :

A child suffering from disinhibited reactive attachment disorder may commonly suffer a range of symptoms which include

behaving much younger than chronological age / taking part in activities appropriate to much younger children

MORE ABOUT THE CAUSES OF REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER :

I have already touched on the causes of reactive attachment disorder in the opening paragraph of this article. However, to elaborate further, a baby / young child does not only require his/her physical needs to be met (such as being fed or having his/her nappy changed) but also requires SIMULTANEOUS WARM EMOTIONAL INTERACTION WITH THE CAREGIVER WHO IS PERFORMING THESE PHYSICAL TASKS.

Such warm, emotional interaction is less likely to occur in underfunded and under-resourced orphanages (as already mentioned above). Also, however, young children who are forced to undergo frequent changes in foster homes, or who live with severely mentally ill parents, or with parents with serious substance misuse problems, are also at higher risk of extreme emotional neglect and, consequently, at increased risk of developing reactive attachment disorder.

WHO SUFFERS FROM REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER ?

Research into reactive attachment disorder has focused on babies / young children between the ages of 0 and 5 years of age. It is not certain if the disorder exists in children over the age of 5 years ; more research needs to be conducted in order to establish whether or not it does.

However, some preliminary research suggests that older children and adolescents may express symptoms of reactive attachment disorder through :

callousness

lack of emotional responsiveness

cruelty towards animals

cruelty towards people

general problems relating to their behavior

CAN REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER BE SUCCESSFULLY TREATED?

Although there is currently no one, specific, specialized treatment or therapy for reactive attachment disorder, the evidence is that, with the right kind of intervention, children suffering from the disorder can learn to form healthy relationships with others.

As with all psychological problems, the earlier the therapeutic intervention is made, the higher its probability of success.

Therapies likely to be helpful include :

individual counselling

classes in parenting skills

family counselling

education of caregivers about the disorder

education of parents about the disorder

NOTE : The DSM IV refers to the inhibited and disinhibited forms of the disorder as : emotionally withdrawn and indiscriminately social/disinhibited subtypes , whilst the DSM 5 refers to them as two separate disorders, namely, reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder. SEE TABLE BELOW :

Those who have experienced significant and protracted childhood trauma are far more likely to be incarcerated as adults than those individuals who were fortunate enough to experience relatively stable and secure childhoods (all else being equal).

PHYSICAL TRAUMA, EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AND ABANDONMENT :

For example, a study carried out by Wolff and Shi found that 56% of a sample of 4000 male prisoners had suffered physical trauma during their childhoods. Furthermore, in the same study, there was found a high proportion of inmates who had suffered emotional abuse as children including abandonment, rejection, humiliation, hostility, frequent and unreasonable criticism, intimidation and indifference ; of these forms of emotional abuse, abandonment was found to be particularly predictive of incarceration as an adult (indeed, more than a quarter of the prison inmates in the study had suffered abandonment as children).

In relation to the issue of childhood abandonment, the authors of the study also highlighted the fact that those abandoned as children not infrequently found themselves abandoned again (by both family and friends) when imprisoned, thus triggering in them memories and emotions connected with their original childhood abandonment – the inevitable result of this is that the psychological problems they are likely to have developed as a result of this original childhood abandonment are yet further compounded by this further experience of abandonment as an incarcerated adult.

How Does Childhood Trauma Make Individuals More Likely To End Up In Jail?

There are many reasons why the experience of childhood trauma increases a person’s risk of going to jail as an adult; these include :

Implications :

Because many of the behavior that bring individuals into conflict with the law are linked to these individuals’ experience of trauma during their childhoods, Wolff and Shi suggest that it would be of benefit to screen inmates for psychiatric disorders linked to childhood trauma (such as complex posttraumatic stress disorder) and then to offer inmates who could benefit from it trauma-informed therapy.

The DSM 4 (Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Illness, 4th Edition) lists one of the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a ‘sense of a foreshortened future.‘ It is this specific symptom that I wish to concentrate upon in this article.

The psychologists Ratcliffe et al. (2014) suggested, based on their research, that this involved several elements of altered feelings, perceptions and beliefs, some of which I consider (although not exclusively) below.

NEGATIVE VIEW OF THE FUTURE :

An individual suffering from a ‘sense of a foreshortened future’ may have an extremely negative and pessimistic set of beliefs about the future ; these may include :

I will die young / soon / prematurely / imminently

I will never have a rewarding and successful career

I will never find a partner / have a family.

In other words, the individual who is experiencing a ‘sense of a foreshortened future‘ regards the future as bleak, empty a without meaning.

It follows.of course, that the person’s feelings and emotions in relation to the future will also be negative – rather than being hopeful about it, s/he may fear and dread it.

ALTERATIONS IN PERCEPTION OF TIME :

Also, such a person may experience severe alterations in his/her perception of how time operates, including :

changes in perception of the passage of time and feeling unable to ‘move forward into the future’

changes in how PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE are experienced

changes in how the relationship between the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE are experienced

the experience of flashbacks (in which the past is experienced as ‘happening now.’

a change in perception of the overall structure of experience

FEELING THAT LIFE IS OVER :

Freeman (2000) coined the term ‘narrative foreclosure’ which refers to a strong sense that one’s ‘life story has effectively ended.’ and that there is no further purpose to it, no further meaning that can be derived from it and no possibility that it will contain deep relationships with others or achievement of any kind. The individual affected in this way may also cease to feel s/he cares about anything or can be committed to any cause or project in the future.

In short, a sense of nihilism may prevail.

LOSS OF TRUST :

Also relevant to an individual developing a sense of a foreshortened future is that it is likely to be intertwined with a general loss of trust which may manifest itself through beliefs such as :

others cannot be trusted and pose a threat to me

the world is a dangerous place that I should interact with as little as possible

THE ‘SHATTERING’ OF ONE’S EXPERIENCE OF WORLD AND OF OTHER PEOPLE :

Greening (1990) puts forward the view that the individual’s ‘relationship with existence itself becomes shattered’. For example, the experience of trauma may leave the individual with a fundamentally altered views about the safety of the world (Herman, 1992) and his/her place within it ; the world seems meaningless, other people undependable and dangerous, and the self of no value.

LOSS OF PREDICTABILITY :

The individual, too, may come to see life as essentially random and unpredictable, feel that s/he can exercise no control over it, and that, therefore, there is no prospect of life unfolding in a dependable, coherent, cohesively structured way – s/he may feel s/he is no longer travelling through life on a reasonably straight set of tracks, but, rather, on tracks that twist and turn at random and from which one may be completely derailed at any time without warning. Indeed, Stolorow (2007) refers to how the individual may lose his/her sense of ‘safety’ and and of any meaningful ‘continuity’ in life.

Such a person may feel that ‘anything can happen at any time’ and that these things will, inevitably, be very bad. Because of this, s/he may feel perpetually trepidatious and vulnerable – alone in a an alien, sinister, hostile and frightening world ; a world in which there is no structure to hold one in place, no coherence and nowhere one can feel safe or a sense of belonging ; it can seem as if the foundations of one’s life are now built on sand rather than on solid ground and, as such, one’s life is liable to collapse at any time and without warning.

AN UNSHAKABLE SENSE OF IMMINENT DEATH :

Any future goals the individual had may now seem meaningless and pointless – even absurd ; linked to this can be a feeling that one is no longer moving forward in life and that there is no worthwhile direction in which life can go – any direction feels equally futile and devoid of meaning.

And, because the individual now sees only emptiness lying ahead of him/her in life this can translate into a perception that future time itself has somehow dissolved and has been replaced by a kind of ‘temporal vacuum’. This, in turn, leads to a feeling that nothing of meaningful substance lies between the present and death. Future time is anticipated as a void and in this sense ceases to be real – therefore, DEATH FEELS ABIDINGLY AND PERPETUALLY IMMINENT ; no buffer of a meaningful, substantive, solid, structured, ‘block of time’ is perceived to lie between NOW and DEATH’S OCCURRENCE ; instead, just a nebulous, indistinct haze of ‘virtual nothingness.’ (This is a difficult concept to relate to, or, even, comprehend if one has not experienced such an unhappy state of being – or, perhaps more accurately put, non-being – oneself).

To all intents and purposes, therefore, to an individual suffering from a ‘sense of a foreshortened future, it feels as if one’s life is already over. Indeed, Herman (1992) noted that it was not unusual for those who had been affected by the experience of severe trauma reported feeling as if they were dead or as if part of them had died.

BPD And Dysregulation :

We have already seen from many other articles that I have published on this site that those who have suffered severe and protracted childhood trauma are at greatly increased risk of going on to develop borderline personality disorder (BPD) than those who were fortunate enough to have experienced a relatively stable upbringing.

One of the main symptoms of this very serious and life-threatening condition (about ninety per cent of sufferers attempt suicide and about ten per cent die by suicide) is termed ‘DYSREGULATION.’

What Is Meant By The Term ‘Dysregulation?’

When the term DYSREGULATION is used in the psychological literature it most commonly refers to the great difficulty the BPD sufferer has controlling behavior and emotional states. However, more specifically, the dysregulation that those with BPD experience can be sub-divided into four particular types; these are :

1) EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION

2) BEHAVIORAL DYSREGULATION

3) COGNITIVE DYSREGULATION

4) SELF DYSREGULATION

Below, I briefly define each of these four types of dysregulation :

Emotional Dysregulation :

This type of dysregulation refers to extreme sensitivity and difficulty controlling intense emotions. Individuals suffering from this type of dissociation not only feel emotions far more deeply than the average person, but also take longer to return to their ‘baseline’ / ‘normal’ mood.

For example, a person with BPD who is emotionally dysregulated may be easily moved to intense expressions of anger and then take far longer to calm down again compared to the average person. Others may disparagingly (due to their lack of knowledge and understanding of this life-threatening – see above – and acutely, indeed uniquely, mentally painful condition) describe such an individual as extremely ‘thin’skinned’, as ‘having a chip on his/her shoulder’, ‘a drama queen’ or as or as someone who is prone to extreme ‘over-reactions.’

A leading theory as to why individuals with BPD are emotionally dysregulated is that the development of their AMYGDALA (a brain region intimately involved with how we express emotions and how we react to stress) has been damaged as a result of severe childhood trauma.

BEHAVIORAL DYSREGULATION :

This type of dysregulation refers to the severe problems those with BPD can have controlling their behavior ; such individuals may be highly impulsiveand liable to indulge in high-risk behaviors that are self-destructive. Such behaviors may include :

This type of dysregulation refers to disorganized thinking which may manifest itself as paranoid-type thinking and/or as states ofDISSOCIATION.

BPD sufferers are also prone to ‘black and white’ / ‘all or nothing’ type thinking, indecision, self-doubt, distrust of others and intense self-hatred.

SELF DYSREGULATION :

This type of dysregulation refers to the weak sense of their own identity many BPD sufferers feel ( a typical BPD sufferer might express this by saying something along the lines of ‘I’ve no idea who I am‘), feelings of emptiness, and the difficulty many BPD sufferers experienced expressing their likes, dislikes, needs and feelings,

Dysregulation And Stress :

Individuals with BPD are farless able to cope with stress than the average person and dysregulation (relating to all four of the above categories) is especially likely to occur when such individuals are experiencing stress ; indeed, the greater the stress the individual is experiencing, the more dysregulated he/she is likely to become.

In this article, I will briefly outline a study that helps to show the relationship between poor impulse control in childhood and later life success :

THE STUDY ON IMPULSE CONTROL AS A CHILD AND FUTURE LIFE OUTCOMES :

The study was conducted by Walter Mischel and E.B Ebbeson. A group of children were given two options :

OPTION ONE : They could have one marshmallow immediately.

OR :

OPTION TWO : They could have two marshmallows if they were prepared to wait fifteen minutes for them.

The children were then left alone with the marshmallows.

RESULTS :

Some children gave in to temptation immediately and some managed to defer gratification for a short amount of time (but not the full fifteen minutes).

HOWEVER : About one third of the children were able to defer gratification for the FULL FIFTEEN MINUTES (in the main they distracted themselves from the temptation to eat the marshmallow by playing or singing to themselves, according to the researchers).

TWELVE YEARS LATER, a follow-up study was carried out on these same individuals. The results of this follow-up study were :

The individuals’ PERFORMANCE ON THE IMPULSE CONTROL TEST (as described above) was more highly correlated with future life success than any other measure, including socioeconomic status and I.Q.

In other words, on average, the children who managed to wait the full fifteen minutes before eating went on to have significantly more successful lives (as defined and measured by the twelve year follow-up study) than those children who were unable to do so. The fact that the level of an individual’s impulse control appears, according to this particular study, to be a better predictor of that same individual’s future life success than either their socioeconomic status or I.Q. implies that how well we are able to control our impulses is of vital importance.

However, some narcissistic individuals are more easy to identify than others and in this article I will briefly describe three different types ; these are :

THE EXTRAVERTED NARCISSIST :

THE INTROVERTED / COVERT NARCISSIST :

THE COMMUNAL NARCISSIST :

Let’s look at each of these in turn :

The Extraverted Narcissist :

Narcissists who have an extravert type personality are, as one would guess, the easiest to identify ; accordingly,they are also the ones who fit most people’s stereotype of a narcissist : They crave attention, always desiring to be center stage and in the limelight. If wealthy, they are likely to ostentatiously flaunt their economic status by the means of material objects (e.g. flashy cars with personalized number plates, extravagant jewelry etc. ). They are also likely to be highly competitive in the workplace with a strong urge to rise to the highest possible positions thus enabling themselves to exert maximum power over others and to be able to insist upon respect and deference.

The Introverted / Covert Narcissist :

Introverted narcissists have just as strong a need to feel special and superior to others in the way that the extraverted narcissists do, but manifest this desire in more subtle and less obvious ways (which is why they are also sometimes referred to as ‘covert narcissists’ in the psychological literature).

In fact, on the surface, they may even appear to others to be self-effacing and, in direct contrast to extraverted narcissists, are likely to actively avoid being the center of attention (due to an intense fear of being negatively judged by others).

Such behavior, though, is paradoxical because underneath this seemingly humble exterior lies a firm conviction of great superiority to others. The introverted / covert narcissists rationalizes this belief of great superiority – in the absence, of course, of its confirmation by others – by telling him/herself that others are simply not intelligent or perceptive enough to have recognized his/her ‘supreme and unique’ talents.

Due to this perceived ‘failure of insight’ by others, the introverted narcissist may go through life feeling deeply bitter and resentful ; a typical, secret belief an introverted/covert narcissist might hold is : ‘The only reason other people don’t realize how brilliant, superior and wonderful I am is that they are just too stupid to see it!’

The Communal Narcissist :

The communal narcissist wishes to be seen by his/her community as an outstandingly compassionate, caring, giving, nurturing and charitable individual and derives his/her self-esteem and self-worth by cultivating such an image. Just like the extraverted narcissist and the introverted narcissist, the communal narcissist’s primary motivation is a desperate and overwhelming need to feel special.